


Life Is Worth Living

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-19
Updated: 2006-12-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 07:41:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12406020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: Oliver Wood is the captain for Puddlemere United. Check out his crazy team that includes two American twins, a Slytherin and Harry Potter.





	Life Is Worth Living

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

<b>Summary: </b>It’s the first Quidditch season after the war and what a better way to kick it off than by visiting our favorite Quidditch player, Oliver Wood. As the Captain for Puddlemere United, he takes on two Americans, an old teammate, a Slytherin and several other wacky characters in the world of Quidditch. Follow him through this season of ups and downs as he finds out what means more to him than Quidditch and how to really enjoy life for what it is.

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<b>Notes: </b>This is mostly going to be an Oliver Wood-centric story. Sadly, sometimes the characters have minds of their own and like to try to take over the story. If they do, I apologize in advance.

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<b>Disclaimer:</b> I own nothing you recognize. If I did, I would be richer than the queen, and we all know how true <i>that</i> is.

 

 

<b>Life Is Worth Living</b>

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<b>Chapter One: </b>The Beginning of a New Season

 

 

Oliver Wood looked around the locker room of the Puddlemere United Quidditch team as he put his bag containing his uniform down on the bench in front of his locker. He looked around at the lockers containing their owner’s names on the front. Three lockers were blank. One would soon go to the renowned Harry Potter. After the war was over, all of the Aurors were able to go about pursuing their dreams, if being an Auror wasn’t their dream. Harry Potter had chosen to enter the world of professional Quidditch and had taken Oliver up on his offer to try for the Puddlemere team. They were in desperate need for a Seeker. And as he had proved in his first year at Hogwarts, Harry was just the catch for the Puddlemere Seeker job. Harry had only been an Auror for a year. The Ministry had hurried all eligible witches and wizards through the program. They were running out of people fast, even though they weren’t hasty to admit it.

 

Oliver ran a hand through his hair as he remembered the countless number of friends that had joined up without so much as a draft. He had been close to join them but when his mother had approached him and told him that if her only son were to join up in the war she would never speak to him again. She would find some way to make sure he was banned from playing Quidditch ever again. Oliver knew that this wasn’t an empty threat. He knew full well that his mother could do it. Coming from a long standing pureblood family, Oliver knew how much influence his parents had in the wizarding community. And he knew how much he would soon have. He also knew that his mother wanted him to produce an heir to the family… and fast. She kept pestering him to find a girlfriend, settle down and get married. Oliver, however, had different plans. He was the second year Captain of Puddlemere and enjoying every minute of it. He couldn’t be bothered with starting a family now.

 

Now it’s wrong to say that Oliver didn’t want a family. He did want a family. He could see himself with a wife and children, teaching his children to play the game he had loved since he, himself, was a child. He just didn’t feel that it was fair for him to start a family while he was still in the height of his Quidditch career. He didn’t think it would be fair to his family. He was a sensible guy, that Oliver.

 

He looked at the two remaining blank lockers. Soon they would be stating the names of the owners, two American Beaters. The team manager, Simon Barker, had a hard time finding two Beaters he found to be adequate enough to play on the team. He had taken Oliver to the States to watch some Quidditch matches around the country. When Simon and Oliver arrived in Seattle they were at their wits end. Nothing had turned up promising. That was until they saw the Reynolds twins. The twins worked together seamlessly. Oliver hadn’t seen any pair of Beaters fly like that, and he worked with the Weasley twins! Oliver knew then that twins were the way to go when choosing Beaters. 

 

Simon had tried to sign them right there but their parents had to be notified and co-sign the contract. The legal age in America was still eighteen. The twins were only seventeen at the time. So Simon did what any good manager would do. He waited the two months that the twins had left until they hit the legal age. When those two months were up, Simon dragged Oliver back to Seattle to convince the twins to sign to Puddlemere. The only problem was finding them again. School had been let out for the summer and the twins were Muggle-born. Another barrier. 

 

Eventually Simon and Oliver found their house in the suburbs of Seattle. Simon had to pull a few strings with their headmaster to get their address and other useful information. When the two Brits had knocked on the door to the large Reynolds house, Skyler Reynolds had been the one to answer. The short eighteen year old young woman was shocked, to say the least, when she saw who was standing on the other side of the door.

 

“I didn’t think we’d ever see you two again,” she had said to them after giving them long looks.

 

“We really want you on our team,” Simon had told her and she let them into the house. 

 

Simon and Oliver were led into the family room and Skyler called for her brother, Alexander, to join them. Where Skyler was short, Alexander was tall. It was hard to believe at some points that they were twins. Fraternal twins, yes, but twins nonetheless. They shared the same piercing deep blue eyes and the dark auburn hair. Alexander’s was browner than Skyler’s was, however. When their parents, Matthew and Sarah, entered the room Oliver could feel the tension. Here he was trying to convince two kids to join a professional Quidditch team a country and an ocean away, and he still had to convince their parents. It was going to be a tough sell, he had reckoned. 

 

“Skyler, Alex, why don’t you take Mr. Wood into the kitchen and see if he wants anything to eat or drink?” Sarah Reynolds told her children. “Your father and I need to speak with Mr. Barker alone.”

 

Skyler and Alex got up without a word, motioning for Oliver to follow them. He did and found that they had led him to a large kitchen far enough from the family room to not be overheard but near enough to still see what was going on. Skyler and Alex took seats at the island, grabbing some fruit out of the ceramic bowl sitting there.

 

“Do you want anything?” Alex asked Oliver. The latter shook his head and sat on the other side of the island, waiting.

 

“Why do you want us so bad?” Skyler asked; a few bites into her apple.

 

“To be honest, you’re the only two decent players we’ve seen in several months. Not to say that you’re only decent. The two of you are outstanding. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Oliver explained. The twins looked at each other, communicating without talking. Oliver felt a little unnerved and left out as he watched them.

 

“But we’re just kids. We just graduated,” Alex said. “Mom and Dad were surprised enough when they found out that we were magical. I don’t know how they feel about us going into a professional sport in that world.”

 

“Mom almost threw a conniption when we told her what you and Simon had told us,” Skyler asked, a small smile on her face. Oliver felt a smile form on his face as well. “She just about told us to go have our heads examined.”

 

“Yeah, Mom was a little peeved,” Alex agreed and the two siblings laughed together.

 

“Hopefully Simon’s being his usual charming self and is currently on his way to getting your parents to agree to this,” Oliver said. “It’s too bad that the legal age here isn’t seventeen. That’s what it is back in Britain.”

 

“Damn,” Alex said. “Could you imagine all the stuff we could get away with if they lowered the age?”

 

“Yeah,” Skyler said with a wistful sigh. She finished with her apple and tossed the core over Oliver’s shoulder and into the garbage disposal of the sink. It went clean in. Oliver looked at her with wide eyes.

 

“You play Chaser as well?” he asked. Skyler shrugged.

 

“Only in the off-season,” she told him. “We take turns being the Chaser so we can practice our Beating skills. We’ve gotten pretty good at both. But, before you get any ideas, we prefer being Beaters.”

 

Oliver smiled and nodded. “I figured.”

 

Just then Simon and the Reynolds parents entered the kitchen. Alex and Skyler looked at their parents, awaiting an answer. Sarah sighed before she spoke.

 

“We’ve signed the papers,” she told them. “You can go.”

 

The kitchen was filled with hoots and hollers as the twins jumped up and hugged everyone in the room… twice, including each other. Chants of “We’re going to London!” could be heard from the neighbors’ houses. 

 

Oliver chuckled to himself as he remembered what had transpired in Seattle a few weeks ago.

 

“What’s so funny, Captain?” a voice asked. Oliver looked up to see the objects of his memory standing before him. He smiled and shook his head.

 

“Nothing,” he told them. The twins looked at each other before shrugging and putting their bags in front of two empty lockers. “You’ll be getting your names on them some time soon. Well, at least before the season starts.”

 

“Hey, Captain!” a voice yelled from down the row of lockers. Walking toward them was a large young man of a brute stature. Oliver shook his head and laughed as the young man approached. 

 

“Hey, Chris,” Oliver greeted the man. Chris turned to the twins and smiled.

 

“Hullo, I’m Christopher Warrington. Slytherin. You must be the Reynolds twins. Oliver’s told us so much about you,” Chris said, holding out a hand for them to shake. Skyler recovered from the obscure introduction first.

 

“Skyler Reynolds,” she said, shaking Chris’ hand.

 

“Pleasure,” Chris told her, a charming smile on his face. Skyler could see Oliver roll his eyes, but he was smiling still. Alex shook Chris’ hand and told him his name as well.

 

“What’s a Slytherin?” Skyler asked. Oliver and Chris looked at each other before trying to answer. However they were saved the duty of having to do so.

 

“A Slytherin is a nasty piece of work. A snake, if you will,” someone explained. The group turned and saw Harry Potter standing behind them, a smile plastered on his face.

 

“You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you, Potter?” Chris said. Harry smiled wider and greeted Chris warmly. Harry turned to Oliver before turning to the new players.

 

“I’m Harry Potter,” he introduced himself. The twins introduced themselves as well before Harry turned back to Chris. “Of course, I’d know all about that. The only games I enjoyed playing were the Slytherin games.”

 

“Oh, how I remember those,” Chris said, a fond smile on his face. “It’s almost enough to make me wish I was back in school. Almost.” Oliver and Harry laughed. Skyler and Alex still looked confused. 

 

“Hogwarts was broken up into four houses. To be sorted into the houses, you put on the Sorting Hat and it told you were to go. There were Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor,” Oliver explained. “There was always a rivalry between Gryffindor, the good house, and Slytherin, the bad house.” This brought a scoff of indignation from Chris.

 

“Gryffindors and Slytherins basically had it out for each other,” Harry summed up. “But we all know which house is clearly the better house.”

 

“Hufflepuff?” Skyler asked.

 

“Exactly,” Harry said to her. The teammates continued to catch up or get to know one another. As they talked the remaining players entered the locker room. Chasers Juliet Schmor and Lucinda McCarthy, a married French woman and a married Italian woman, respectively, joined the group and got to know the new players.

 

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Simon Barker started as he arrived in the locker room, carrying a large cardboard box, “the new robes have arrived. Please don’t all rush me at once.”

 

No one was rushing toward Simon though; each person just looked at him with a perplexed expression plastered on their faces. Simon was not deterred.

 

“Ah!” he said, spotting Alex and Skyler. “You actually made it. I thought your parents might have changed their minds and held you back. But no matter, get ready for practice and we’ll get out on the pitch.”

 

The team changed into their new practice robes and gear, grabbing their brooms on the way out. Each member on the team had a Firebolt X, the newest model on the market. The brooms had been a gift from an anonymous donor for the new season. The letter from the donor had contained well wishes and a marriage proposal for the Captain. Oliver had blushed to no end when he had read the letter, but politely declined the offer.

 

Simon was standing in the middle of the pitch with the equipment box when the laughing and smiling team walked onto the grass. Skyler was half-heartedly threatening to beat Chris with her bat when they reached Simon. Each witch and wizard had an eager look on their face as they approached their manager.

 

“Ready?” Simon asked, kicking open the equipment box. The team nodded as the Snitch zoomed out into the open air. Harry was off like a rocket, soaring after the Snitch as long as he could keep it in sight. The Bludgers were released and Skyler and Alex followed them into the air. Oliver followed them and took his place at the goals. Simon hurtled the Quaffle into the air and soon Chris, Juliet and Lucinda were chasing after it.

 

When the team touched down after a hard three hours work, Oliver couldn’t help diminish the satisfied grin taking over his face. His team was coming together. Alex and Skyler fit right in and the Chasers were better than ever. Harry, of course, needed no reminding that he had earned that spot on the Gryffindor team his first year. Oliver, himself, had done a phenomenal job during the practice. The team started to walk back to the locker room and Oliver was left alone on the pitch.

 

Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Skyler.

 

“That was some good flying, Cap’n. Some of the best I’ve seen,” she told him. She started to walk back to the locker room but turned back before she got to the door. “You better hurry up! We’re going to the Leaky Cauldron and we’ll leave without you!” Oliver grinned at her before he jogged to catch up. They laughed and he threw a friendly arm around her shoulders as they left the dark pitch behind.

 

*                 *                 *

 

The opening game of the Quidditch season was the Puddlemere and Holyhead game. The Harpies were in town and ready to take on Puddlemere. Fans of all ages filled the stadium, ready to cheer on their favorite team. Oliver was in the locker room prepping his team for the upcoming match.

 

“We’ve been practicing for three weeks now,” he said as he paced in front of them. “We know each other inside and out. If we stick together and work as a team we’ll be able to pull anything off. After all, it’s the Harpies. They’re not supposed to be that good this year. We’ll just do what we do best and get the win today. Keep an eye out, fly straight and give it your all.”

 

The team looked at one another then their Captain. 

 

“I reckon you’ve gotten better, Oliver,” Harry said as he and the rest of the team stood to walk to the pitch. “No more threats of ‘catch the Snitch or die trying.’ I like this new you.”

 

“Sod off, Potter,” Oliver said, calmly as he led his team to the doors. The team laughed and lined up behind their captain.

 

“And now… the team you’ve been waiting for,” the commentator announced to the stadium. The statement was followed by a roar from the crowd. “Here they are! McCarthy, Reynolds, Reynolds, Schmor, Warrington, Wood, and… Potter!” 

 

The doors to the pitch burst open and the team flew out to the cheers of the fans in the stadium. The team did a lap around the pitch before coming to their places in the air. The Quaffle was tossed into air and they were off.

 

“Warrington grabs the Quaffle! Warrington, Schmor, McCarthy, back to Warrington! He scores! Thirty seconds into the game and Puddlemere is already ahead!”

 

The game remained in that vein for the next four hours. When Oliver called a time out the score was 120:30, Puddlemere. Alex and Skyler landed next to Chris and Oliver. Oliver handed them water and they downed the liquid in seconds.

 

“I didn’t know a professional game would be like this,” Alex said, sounding a little tired.

 

“You guys are doing great out there,” Oliver told them. “Just keep it up.” They nodded and took more water.

 

When play resumed, Skyler tore after a Bludger heading for Chris and Juliet. She reached it and instead of hitting it in the opposite direction, she pelted it toward the Harpies’ Keeper. The Bludger sent the Keeper running for cover, opening the goals to Juliet, who scored. Juliet and Chris high-fived Skyler before heading on their way back toward the other end of the pitch.

 

Alex executed a spectacular hit five minutes later, nearly knocking a Harpies Chaser out of the sky. Chris seized the fallen Quaffle and put it through the center hoop, adding ten more points to Puddlemere’s score. 

 

It was shortly after this that the Seekers began to dive. Time seemed to stop as the players were torn between watching and to keep playing. The Harpies Seeker was closer than Harry and Skyler was wondering if Harry would make it. Out of the corner of her eye, Skyler spied a Bludger coming at her. She waited until it got closer and smacked it toward the Harpies Seeker. It was all she needed to get thrown off balance, leaving Harry a clear path to the Snitch. Harry’s hand closed around the small golden ball and he thrust his fist into the air in victory. 

 

Skyler was blindsided on all ends by Chris, Oliver and Alex. They hugged her as they descended to the ground. 

 

“Spectacular hit!” someone was yelling over all of the cheering from the stands.

 

“And an amazingly accurate hit from Skyler Reynolds sends Harpies Seeker, O’Neill, flying off course! That hit just won Puddlemere the match! Where did Simon Barker and Oliver Wood find that girl!?! Puddlemere wins 290:90!” the commentator said to the stadium.

 

No one on the Puddlemere Quidditch team cared what was said though, as they descended onto the ground in a many armed hug. On the grass the team lay sprawled on top of each other, exhausted but satisfied in the win. The Harpies stalked off the pitch to let the team celebrate.

 

Later in the locker room, the team changed out of their gear and back into their street clothes. Once they had finished changing, the press was allowed in. The team sat on benches as the media gathered around to write down what the team said, take pictures of the team and recall the favorite moments of the match. Oliver sat in between his favorite new Beater and Chris and waited for the interviewing to begin.

 

“Mr. Wood, how does it feel to have just won the first game of the season?” a reporter from <i>Quidditch Weekly</i> asked.

 

“First off, the use of first names is fine. Secondly, it feels damn good,” Oliver said, receiving chuckles from the reporters and his teammates. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this good after a win. We’re really going to show the league what we’re made of this year.”

 

“Oliver! What do you have to say about the three new additions to the team?” 

 

“Well, I’ve played with Harry before so it was a great joy to work with him again. He’s always come through when we’ve needed him to and he proved that today,” Oliver said diplomatically. “Skyler and Alex are essential assets to the team, as you’ve seen today. I don’t think we would have done nearly as good a job today if we didn’t have them with us. Not to mention that spectacular hit at the end of the game.” Oliver looked to his right and shared a smile with Skyler.

 

“Skyler! How was your first professional game?”

 

“I have to say that it went pretty well. We won and it was most definitely a team effort. I enjoyed playing with the team very much and had a lot of fun out there,” Skyler said. “I’m just excited to be playing the game I love.”

 

After a few more questions the interview was over and the team was able to leave the locker room to greet the fans that had stuck around to see them. Oliver walked beside Skyler and put an arm around her.

 

“Nice answer earlier,” he said to her. Skyler looked up at him and smiled.

 

“It was a team effort,” she told him. “It’s not my fault they kept wanting to talk about the last few seconds of the game. Mathematically we would have won anyway.”

 

“I know. But they don’t care about that. They just care about the exciting moments of the game,” Oliver said. “You handled it well.”

 

They didn’t get much farther in their discussion as they reached the line of fans waiting down the hall from the locker room. The fans cheered as they saw the team approach. The team endured autographs, photographs, proposals of marriage and other things that made some of the players blush. Once the last of the fan had their say, the team was able to go their separate ways. They said their good-byes and headed on their way. 

 

As Oliver walked toward the Apparation point that would take him to his flat, he looked back and saw his new Beaters walking toward the tube station. Alex put an arm around Skyler’s shoulders and she reached up to mess up his hair. Oliver smiled to himself before shaking his head and turning back to his path.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*

 

So… there it is… the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. I promise all the overly descriptive stuff will slowly go away. Things/people are still being introduced and they want everyone to know exactly what they look like. 

 

Again, hope you enjoyed. And don’t be afraid to review!


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